Possible to manipulate UI elements via dispatchEvent()?
- by rinogo
Hi all!
I'm trying to manually dispatch events on a textfield so I can manipulate it indirectly via code (e.g. place cursor at a given set of x/y coordinates). However, my events seem to have no effect.
I've written a test to experiment with this phenomenon:
package sandbox {
import flash.display.Sprite;
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
import flash.text.TextField;
import flash.text.TextFieldType;
import flash.text.TextFieldAutoSize;
import flash.utils.setTimeout;
public class Test extends Sprite {
private var tf:TextField;
private var tf2:TextField;
public function Test() {
super();
tf = new TextField();
tf.text = 'Interact here';
tf.type = TextFieldType.INPUT;
addChild(tf);
tf2 = new TextField();
tf2.text = 'Same events replayed with five second delay here';
tf2.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT;
tf2.type = TextFieldType.INPUT;
tf2.y = 30;
addChild(tf2);
tf.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, mouseListener);
tf.addEventListener(MouseEvent.DOUBLE_CLICK, mouseListener);
tf.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, mouseListener);
tf.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, mouseListener);
tf.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT, mouseListener);
tf.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER, mouseListener);
tf.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, mouseListener);
tf.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_WHEEL, mouseListener);
tf.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT, mouseListener);
tf.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER, mouseListener);
}
private function mouseListener(event:MouseEvent):void {
//trace(event);
setTimeout(function():void {trace(event); tf2.dispatchEvent(event);}, 5000);
}
}
}
Essentially, all this test does is to use setTimeout to effectively 'record' events on TextField tf and replay them five seconds later on TextField tf2. When an event is dispatched on tf2, it is traced to the console output. The console output upon running this program and clicking on tf is:
[MouseEvent type="mouseMove" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=0 localY=1 stageX=0 stageY=1 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="rollOver" bubbles=false cancelable=false eventPhase=2 localX=0 localY=1 stageX=0 stageY=1 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="mouseOver" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=0 localY=1 stageX=0 stageY=1 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="mouseMove" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=2 localY=1 stageX=2 stageY=1 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="mouseMove" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=2 localY=2 stageX=2 stageY=2 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="mouseMove" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=2 localY=3 stageX=2 stageY=3 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="mouseMove" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=3 localY=3 stageX=3 stageY=3 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="mouseMove" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=5 localY=3 stageX=5 stageY=3 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="mouseMove" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=6 localY=5 stageX=6 stageY=5 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="mouseMove" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=7 localY=5 stageX=7 stageY=5 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="mouseMove" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=9 localY=5 stageX=9 stageY=5 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="mouseMove" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=10 localY=5 stageX=10 stageY=5 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="mouseMove" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=11 localY=5 stageX=11 stageY=5 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="mouseMove" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=12 localY=5 stageX=12 stageY=5 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="mouseDown" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=12 localY=5 stageX=12 stageY=5 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="mouseUp" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=12 localY=5 stageX=12 stageY=5 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="click" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=12 localY=5 stageX=12 stageY=5 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="mouseMove" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=10 localY=4 stageX=10 stageY=4 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="mouseMove" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=9 localY=2 stageX=9 stageY=2 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="mouseMove" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=9 localY=1 stageX=9 stageY=1 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="mouseOut" bubbles=true cancelable=false eventPhase=3 localX=-1 localY=-1 stageX=-1 stageY=-1 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
[MouseEvent type="rollOut" bubbles=false cancelable=false eventPhase=2 localX=-1 localY=-1 stageX=-1 stageY=-1 relatedObject=null ctrlKey=false altKey=false shiftKey=false delta=0]
As we can see, the events are being captured and replayed successfully. However, no change occurs in tf2 - the mouse cursor does not appear in tf2 as we would expect. In fact, the cursor remains in tf even after the tf2 events are dispatched.
Please help!
Thanks,
-Rich
